


She Never Felt Alone

by CrzyFun



Series: Cat of a Different Color [16]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s01e10 Collection and Extraction, Episode: s01e11 The Black Paladin, Episode: s02e01 Across The Universe, Genderfluid Character, Other, genderfluid blue lion, the lions are cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-03-29 06:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13920933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzyFun/pseuds/CrzyFun
Summary: With Allura all healed up, the team decide on their next move. It was supposed to be a quick in and out mission. Instead one of their own ends up captured while another ends up at deaths door. Can the team save them both before it's too late?





	1. Just Kitten and Get Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things seem to be going fine, then they don’t.

“Come on. Hold still for just a few more seconds.”

<Why did I agree to do this, again?>

<You said you wanted to spend more time together.>

<More time with you. Not him. And certainly not while playing dress up.>

<You look adorable though!>

“He’s right, you do!”

Merla hissed at both Blue and his paladin.

“Yeah, yeah. You're all done, mopey cat. What do you think?”

Merla turned to the mirror and looked herself over.

“Has she always been like this or is it Keith’s influence?” she heard Lance whisper.

<If anything, she influenced Keith. Also, you know she can hear you, right? Cat ears.>

Merla snorted and turned to the side, still looking in the mirror.

Well, she supposed it wasn't nearly as constricting as the armor, and the train felt light enough that it wouldn't tangle with her legs or weigh down her tail if she needed to run.

She'd still rather not wear it.

Lance’s bedroom door opened and the three looked up to see Keith standing in the doorway.

He blinked at the scene in front of him, bemused. “What are you doing? And what is Merla wearing?”

Lance smiled and reached over to adjust the train of the cheetah’s red and white dress. “I'm making the cats fancy clothes. You know, so if we have another party like on Arus.”

“Why would they need fancy clothes?”

“So they'll look fancy. Look at them, running around naked like wild animals!”

“They technically are wild animals. Physically, at least.”

“That doesn't mean they have to look it. They don't even have collars!”

“Merla bit Shiro the one and only time he tried to put a collar on her. He almost needed stitches. Speaking of which, how did you get that on her in the first place?”

Lance winked at him. “What can I say, I have a way with the ladies.”

Keith sent him an unconvinced look. “Blue talked her into it?”

“He may or may not have had a hand in it,” Lance shrugged.

“Thought so.”

“So what do you think? Merla likes it!” Lance said, holding his arms out.

<I _did not_ say that. >

Keith shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “I think it's unnecessary and pointless, but by the looks of it you're going to be making the cats entire wardrobes.”

“Why not? Blue’s practically got his own closet back at home filled with lil cat clothes.”

<Seriously?>

<I like looking pretty, thank you very much. And don't act like you don't like to be pampered in your own ways.>

<That is not the point!>

“That's… I don't know what that is,” Keith chuckled. “Anyways, play time's over. Allura and Shiro want us all on the bridge.

<Freedom!> Merla cheered, phasing through the clothes and darting out the door.

The three stared after her before Lance carefully picked up the dress. “I guess that's one way to get it off without messing up the pins.”

* * *

“I’m sorry, Princess, did you say _we_?” Keith asked, turning to Allura.

“I’m going with you. I’ve traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you.”

<She’s got a point,> Pua agreed.

<Oh please, she walked around with an escort. She’s never had to be sneaky. _Hunk_ has way more experience sneaking through military buildings than her. Plus that was a long time ago. They’ve probably changed floor plans since then, > Merla snorted.

“Princess, I’d rather you stay here,” Coran said.

<Agreed,> Ryou huffed.

<By the Anodites, Merla and Ryou agree on something,> Chip hissed quietly to Blue and he shook with witheld laughter. <Is it time for the Great Shadowing?>

“I’m a part of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I’m going. Does anyone have a problem with that?”

The paladins all looked away from the princess.

<Me!> Merla chirped. <Ryou too. Keith, tell her that!>

Keith glared down at her. _No,_ he mouthed. He liked living, thanks.

Coran turned to Shiro with a worried look.

Shiro shrugged. “Fine. Suit up.”

Coran shrieked and the paladins shot Shiro shocked expressions.

<Come on, guys. The princess knows how to fight. She’ll be fine,> Blue growled.

<Love, being able to fight is low on the list of necessary skills for a spy. The best spies don’t even have to fight.>

<I’m with Blue, you guys are being too hard on her,> Pua snorted.

<I have a bad feeling about this,> Chip sighed.

* * *

“He’s still looking. I think he’s waiting for a signal or something,” Lance whispered.

“I got it.” Hunk crawled out from under the console and held up one of the sentinels. He used the wires on it’s disconnected arm to make it greet the Galra on the screen, pretend to type at the console, then point at the Galra, then give him a thumbs up.

The Galra held his hand up in acceptance before ending the call.

<I can’t believe that worked,> Chip said as Hunk sighed.

“Nice job, Hunk.”

“Thanks,” Hunk said, giving Lance a high five with the robot hand.

“Okay, download complete,” Pidge announced and everyone crowded around her.

“What’s it say?” Keith asked.

“Nothing. This place doesn’t have _any_ useful information. Just a schedule of the ships coming in and out.”

“Well, I guess this mission was a bust,” Lance said.

“Let’s get back to the Castle,” Shiro commanded.

“Hold on. Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?” Allura asked, pointing at the one that had just arrived.

“Um, it’s scheduled to be here for about a half an hour, then head off to Central Command.”

“That’s where they have the information we need, and I’m going to sneak aboard that ship and get it for us.”

<By the Anodites,> Merla groaned.

<Called it,> Chip sighed.

“What? No way!” Lance exclaimed.

“How are you going to get in?” Keith asked, looking skeptical.

Allura pulled off her helmet. “I’m going to walk right through the front.” She closed her eyes and her skin faded to a soft violet and her limbs stretched until she was more than a head taller than all the paladins.

<That’ll help,> Ryou noted as the paladins gasped. <Still a terrible idea.>

“How the heck did you do that?” Hunk asked.

“The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local populations. It’s the ability that’s made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history.”

<Actually, chameleons change color mostly in response to mood or to regulate temperature. A better comparison would be certain cephalopods, like cuttlefish.> The cats turned to Blue, who held up his nose. <What? Yeah, I know things. You got a problem with that?>

<Once an organic nerd, always an organic nerd,> Merla purred, cuddling up against him.

<Got that right!>

“No, just one at a time, and I will need a change of costume,” Allura replied to Lance, Hunk, and Pidge as the cats refocused. She turned to the Galra Shiro had knocked out. “I can use his uniform as a disguise.”

“I can’t let you go in there alone.”

“Excuse me?” Allura turned to Shiro with a defiant expression.. “I do not need your permission.”

<Oh snap!>

<Chip, no.>

“It’s too dangerous. I’m going in with you.”

“You will stick out like a choferiak’s nose.”

“You’re going to need that nose, princess,” Pidge stepped in. “Shiro’s hand is made from Galra tech. It’s the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel. I can monitor the download remotely from here.”

<If only we had someone properly sneaky that could work Galra tech!>

Merla bit down on Blue’s ear.

“Fine, you can come.”

“Uh, you guys better hurry up if you want to get on and off before the ship leaves for Zarkon central,” Hunk pointed out.

The two turned to go and Keith asked, “How are you going to get Shiro on board?”

The two shared a look.

“Oh! Laundry cart!” Lance explained, earning confused looks all around. “Like, you know in those break out movies when the prisoners hide in the laundry carts in order to sneak out! Shiro could hide in one of those crates they’re loading onto the ship and Allura could push it onboard! Like a laundry cart!”

Keith and Allura still looked a bit confused, but Pidge nodded. “That could work. Might be a tight fit. I'm pretty sure those things aren't filled with cloth.”

“It's our best bet though,” Shiro sighed. “Alright, Allura, get changed.”

The princess got to work pulling the Galra’s armor off while Shiro turned to the others.

“You guys stay here and stay hidden. Pidge, try and see if you can get any other information out of here.”

“Right.”

He turned to Ryou with a smirk. “You wouldn't stay here even if I told you to, would you?”

Ryou snorted and pressed up against his side.

“Didn't think so. Just stay close. We don't know what would happen if the Galra got their hands on one of you.

<Could they even keep us contained?> Pua asked.

<Doubtful, but we still should be careful,> Ryou replied.

“I’m ready,” Allura said, coming in fully armored.

“Alright, let’s go.”

<I wanna go on record saying that this is a terrible idea.>

* * *

Merla couldn’t say she hated being right. Actually, she loved it. What she did hate, however, was when being right came with a cost.

Things had been going fine. They’d snuck in, quietly taken down the sentinels guarding the room, discovered that the Galra had somehow been able to tap into a new source of quintessence (or at least she hoped it was a new source. If they had once more reached the Lifelight then the team had more problems to worry about then they’d thought), and stolen a vial of refined quintessence off a cart.

And then the weirdo in the hood that _reeked_ of dark magic appeared next to Keith and everything went downhill.

<Keith!> Merla growled. She pounced at at the druid that blasted Keith, but they teleported away.

They appeared next to the vial of refined quintessence Keith had dropped when he flew back and picked it up.

“Okay, plan B!” Keith shouted, leaping to his feet and drawing his bayard. They both charged the druid, only for them to teleport away again after setting the vial on a new cart.

After nearly getting her head sliced off on accident, Merla fell back, watching Keith chase about the appearing and disappearing druid until they disappeared and didn’t come back.

<Where’d they go?> she hissed, looking around.

“There,” Keith called, jumping aside as violet lightning rained down on them.

With the druid’s focus on Keith, Merla jetpacked to where the druid was. She latched onto the shocked druid just as they tried to teleport again.

She felt her armor fall away and her physical form disintegrate as her quintessence was pulled along with the druid. She felt her quintessence brush against that of the druid. She felt their pain-surprise-confusion-pain-fear-curiosity-pain-anger-curiosity-pain-fear-anger-pain-curiosity. She felt them return to the physical plane and she returned to her physical form, digging her fangs into their shoulder.

They let out a shout and blasted her off with magic. She flew backwards, slamming into a case of quintessence. She heard Keith call out to her as the glass shattered and the quintessence poured over her.

Then everything went white.

* * *

“I think we’re in trouble.”

“You think?”

<Now’s not the time for fighting,> Ryou huffed.

Allura looked around the room before taking a few steps back. “Okay, stand aside.”

“What? Why? What are you-”

Allura rushed forwards, slamming the door off the track and plowing into the guard standing outside. The boys followed her out as she yanked the gun out of the unconscious Galra’s hands. Ryou sent an impressed look to the helmet embedded into the wall before turning to his paladin, who was gaping at the princess.

Ryou snorted as she asked, “What?”

Shiro just looked her up and down.

He finally snapped out of it as a group of sentinels turned a corner and began charging them.

“Let’s go!” They took off down the hall and Shiro called into the comm, “Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We’re coming in hot!”

They stopped as a pair of sentinels appeared in front of them. Allura tried to shoot them and Ryou dropped to the floor to avoid the blasts that flew out and hit one of the sentinels behind them. Shiro quickly stepped in to take down the two. As the others approached, Allura grabbed one of the fallen and tossed it, knocking down the others.

“I thought you said you’d traveled around the galaxy,” Shiro said, grabbing the gun from her and turning it around. “I mean, you fly a spaceship. How could you possibly not know how to hold this correctly?”

“I’m tense. This is a tense situation,” Allura snapped, grabbing the gun in one hand and his arm in the other before dragging him away.

They paused as the realized no one was following them. They turned to see Ryou still collapsed on the floor.

“Black, come on. We need to get moving.”

The liger whined, but didn’t move.

“Ryou, what’s wrong?” Shiro asked, coming to his side.

_“Secure hatches. All personnel take positions for departure.”_

Allura looked up at the announcement before shoving the gun back into Shiro’s hands. She scooped Ryou into her arms, saying, “We can’t stay here.”

“R-right.” Shiro took the lead. He made sure Allura was keeping up before calling into the others. “Guys, something’s wrong with Ryou.”

_“He’s not the only one. All three of ours suddenly just collapsed before disappearing on us. Pua and Chip were gone right away and Blue only stuck around long enough to tell Lance they’d gone back to the lions before disappearing as well.”_

“It’s not just Ryou. Chip, Pua, and Blue were also affected,” Shiro explained for Allura’s sake.

“What could be causing this?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Ryou, you should head back to the Black Lion and rest.”

Ryou gave a weak growl and pawed at Allura’s shoulder.

The princess gave him a sad smile and pressed her head against his. “We’ll be okay Black. Go on. You’re in no condition to fight.”

“She’s right. We’ve got this. Head back. Once we get back to the castle, Pidge can run a diagnostic and hopefully figure out what happened.”

As Ryou finally relented and disappeared, Pidge called through the comms, _“Shiro, we’re at the Green Lion. We’re going to-”_

Shiro gave her a moment to continue before calling her name.

_“Sorry, I'm fine.”_

_“You collapsed! She collapsed, Shiro!”_ Hunk added with a worried voice. _“Lance is helping her into her seat because she can barely stand on her own!”_

_“I'm fine. It's just Chip. I can feel her better in here. It's… They're hurting bad. It’s like pain and exhaustion and numbness and lightheadedness all rolled into one. I… I don’t…”_

“It’s okay, Pidge. Can you guys fly?”

_“Yeah, we’re heading out.”_

“Good.” Shiro ducked as laser fire shot past them. “This way!” he told Allura turning them down a side hallway.

“Are you alright?” Allura asked.

“Yeah, just worried about the lions. Do you have any idea what this could be? I didn’t think they could get sick.”

“Neither did I. But then, we never thought they could speak or create other forms either. My father had always just assumed it was an odd result of mixing the material the lions were made of with Altean science. A sort of accidental AI. To think that they could be thinking, feeling creatures capable of intelligent communication is… astounding! I don’t think my father ever had any idea of what they are capable of, let alone Coran or I.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

Allura bowed her head a little. “I suppose all we can do is what you suggested. Have Pidge, Hunk, and Coran run some tests and hope for the best.”

Shiro nodded with a shaky breath. A shot nearly grazed his side and he shook himself. _Right, focus. We need to get out of here and then I can worry._

Allura turned to shoot at the sentinels chasing them as Shiro turned a corner and called out, “The escape pods are up here!”

_“Formulating navigation. All crew assume secure hyper-speed positions.”_

Panting, Allura pulled the Galra helmet off her head. “Hurry! We can't leave once the ship goes into hyper-speed!”

_“Sh-Shiro.”_

“What is it?”

_“I… I think we know why the lions are so messed up.”_

“Why?” They ran into the escape pod hanger and Shiro set his hand on the door controls to shut them. “Hunk?”

_“Shiro,”_ Lance said. _“I think Merla’s dying.”_


	2. Curiosity Killed the Lions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is very wrong with Merla and Allura's been captured. It's not exactly the best day for the team.

“Merla!” Keith shouted as he saw the cheetah get thrown into one of the tanks. He dodged the blast the druid sent at him and jetpacked towards them using the smoke from the blasts as a cover. He brought down his sword, but they caught it with a blast of magic. His eyes widened just before they increased the strength, tossing him back. His back slammed into one of the cases and he heard it crack under the strain.

Shaking and panting, he looked down at his hand to see it marred with lavender tinted burns.

Keith looked up at the druid, but they were looking away from him. He turned and felt his breath catch in his throat.

Merla was lying in front of the shattered tank. Her body was smoking as the yellow liquid she was drenched in burned away her body like acid.

“Merla,” he whispered, reaching out for her with his mind.

He felt nothing.

“Merla!” Keith shouted, scrambling to his feet. As he ran towards her white and gold lights began hovering around her body. “Pidge, we need an extraction now! Hurry!”

A blast from the druid cut him off. He turned back to them just in time to jump to the side and avoid another blast. Keith growled and shot towards them, but they teleported away. He spun around, trying to find them, and saw them reappear near Merla. “Stay away from her!”

The druid ignored him and reached towards the fallen cheetah.

Suddenly the lights shot away from the druid as Merla’s body finished burning away.

The lights collected near Keith, the gold fading into red or white as they collected into a feline shape. Keith gasped as the form solidified into a shape similar to Maece, only smaller and primarily white with curling red designs. She was also lacking a halo and had black eyes.

“Merla?”

The figure turned to him and he felt a foreign pressure in his head for a moment. She turned to look at the druid and her tail began curling and flickering like a flame. She tilted her head up and her muzzle ripped open, revealing a void that flames spilled out of. They shot out at the druid, who barely managed to teleport away in time. She immediately spun around and fired another stream of fire, which caught the druid’s side as soon as they appeared. The druid staggered back gripping their side, then teleported away.

Tail relaxing and mouth closing without a trace, the figure turned to Keith and the foreign pressure returned.

“Merla?” Keith repeated, kneeling down.

She tilted her head.

He reached out to run his hand over her head. “What happened to you?”

She pulled back before he could touch her and stared at his hand.

He flinched as he saw the burns. “Yeah, forgot about that. The adrenaline must still be dulling most of the pain.”

The pressure increased in his head and her ears uncurled. The tips reached over to brush against his hand. The tips felt warm, but soothing as they traced the burns. A red energy covered his hand and he watched with amazement as the wounds healed, not leaving a scar.

As her ears curled back up, he pulled his hand close to look it over. The only sign he’d been hurt was the vibrant lavender splotches that still covered his hand. “Wow, thanks. Since when can you do that?” he asked.

The pressure left his head and Merla laid down, her tail curling around her.

Keith frowned, the panic that had faded to the background resurging. “Merla, what’s wrong?”

The red designs flickered as they started to fade.

The ceiling began to collapse and Keith switched his bayard to his other hand so he could raise his shield over the both of them to protect them from debris.

The Green Lion exploded into the room and landed next to them. As Chip’s mouth opened, Pidge called through the intercoms, _“Get in! We’ve got to get Shiro and Allura!”_

Dropping the shield and letting his bayard return to his armor, he carefully scooped Merla into his arms and carried her into the Green Lion.

He only went so far as through the airlock before sitting down with Merla in his lap. “Come on, Merla. Speak to me.”

The designs flickered once more before disappearing altogether.

Keith started to shake and brought their heads together. “Mama, please,” he whispered.

“Keith?”

The Red Paladin looked up to see a blurry Lance and Hunk walking towards them.

“What happened?” Lance asked as Keith brought his hand up to scrub at his eyes.

“I-I don’t know. We were fighting the scary guy and she got covered in the quint-whatever and she turned into this and scared him off, but then she just collapsed and now… I don’t know. Something’s wrong. She’s not talking to me.”

“Wait, that’s Merla?” Hunk said, looking at the cat-like creature.

Keith nodded.

Lance stepped forward and set his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll get her back to the castle and into a pod then she’ll be fine.”

Keith shook his head.

“It’s alright, see. Just calm-” Lance set his hand on Merla’s tail and the energy collapsed under his touch, dissipating into the air.

Keith yanked her close to his chest and hissed, “Don’t touch her!”

“I-I’m sor-”

“Don’t you get it! This isn’t like last time! I can’t hear her! I c-can’t _feel_ h-her. She-she’s…” Keith ducked his head.

Lance reached his hand out to the boy, then stopped. He let his hand fall as he turned to Hunk.

The larger boy had his hand over his mouth and tears in his eyes.

“We should tell the others.”

Hunk nodded. “Sh-Shiro.”

_“What is it?”_

“I… I think we know why the lions are so messed up.”

_“Why?”_

Hunk opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out.

_“Hunk?”_

“Shiro,” Lance said. “I think Merla’s dying.”

Keith flinched.

_“WHA- I’m coming, Allura! Guys, we’ll talk when we get to the lion.”_

Hunk shifted from foot to foot before walking over to sit next to Keith. Careful not to touch Merla, he wrapped an arm around Keith and pulled the smaller boy against him.

“I’m… going to go talk to Pidge,” Lance said.

Keith didn’t look up, but Hunk nodded.

Lance walked into the cockpit to see Pidge holding the controls with white knuckles as the Green Lion approached an escape pod. “Chip?” he asked.

“She’s terrified. I don’t think they have any better idea what’s going on than we do.”

“The cryo pods will help.”

Pidge nodded, but looked unconvinced.

* * *

Shiro stared blankly at the doors of the escape pod as the Green Lion approached.

_She’s gone and Merla’s dying._

Once Pidge had locked onto the ship, Shiro ran into the lion. His heart broke when he saw Keith and Hunk huddled together, a limp feline lying in Keith’s lap.

Keith looked up at him with tears in his eyes. “Shiro?”

“Oh Keith.” The Black Paladin dropped down next to his nephew. He went to hug him, but was stopped by Hunk.

“Don’t touch her.”

Shiro was confused, but nodded and carefully pulled Keith into his arms.

Hunk looked around with a frown and asked, “Where's Allura?”

Shiro tightened his grip around Keith and pressed his face into the boy’s hair.

“Shiro?”

He looked up to see Lance standing in the doorway. He looked away. “She sacrificed herself to save me.”

_“So, she's still on that ship?”_ Pidge asked over the comms.

“The ship that's headed to Zarkon's Central Command?”

“Shiro, what are we going to do?” Lance asked.

“We can't let Zarkon get Allura.”

“But you said going there would be a huge mistake. You said for us to attack that place head-on would be the dumbest possible thing we could ever do.”

“I know. But now we don't have a choice. Pidge, get us back to the castle. We need a plan.”

_“Right.”_

* * *

Coran was waiting for them when they came out of the Green Lion.

“What happened? Pidge only told me to prepare the cryo-replenishers.”

“Merla’s… injured. She need to get into the pod, asap.”

He nodded, then looked around as Pidge stepped out and Chip rose up. “Where's Allura?”

“They captured her. She sacrificed herself to save me and the information. I didn't have a choice.”

“How is that possible?”

“Coran,” Shiro said, just short of snapping. “I'm sorry things didn't go as planned, but we can't focus on what went wrong. We've got to figure out how to make it right. Right now, that means getting Merla into a pod.” He turned to Pidge. “You head up to the bridge and scan the download from the ship. Find out where Zarkon's central command is.”

“On it!” She gave Keith a pat on the back before running off.

The rest of the group headed to the infirmary. Coran opened up the prepped pod and Keith carefully set Merla inside. The pod closed, then immediately opened.

“What’s going on?” Keith growled and Shiro set his hand on the boy’s shoulder.

Coran checked the pod’s info and frowned. “It’s not detecting any signs of life.”

“You mean…” Hunk whimpered, grabbing Lance’s arm. “She’s dead?”

Coran shook his head. “No, no, the pod’s not detecting _any_ signs of life at all, not even deceased life. As far as the pod’s concerned, it’s empty.”

“But she’s in there!” Keith shouted.

“It doesn’t make sense,” the Altean agreed.

Shiro sighed and squeezed Keith’s shoulder before stepping back. “You three stay here and try and fix it. Lance, come with me. We need to go see what Pidge found.”

“Right,” Hunk muttered, walking over to stand next to Coran at the control panel, and Lance nodded. He patted Keith’s shoulder before following Shiro out.

Pidge turned to them as soon as the walked onto the bridge. “How’s Merla? Where are the others?”

“Something’s wrong with the pods. It’s not picking Merla up. Coran and Hunk stayed to try and figure out how to fix it and Keith…”

Pidge nodded and turned back to her screen. “I hadn’t expected to see him.”

“Did you find anything?”

She nodded and sent the info up onto the main screen. “Look at this.”

The display gave the details of a huge ship similar in shape to the Galra symbol.

“I think we should go in right away. Every minute we waste gives Zarkon time to prepare for us,” Pidge said.

“I agree. We form Voltron, fly in, fly out, dust off our hands, and walk away,” Lance agreed.

“I don’t know. We had trouble on the Balmera against one fleet. Who knows how many Zarkon’s got stashed in such a large base. It could be risky,” Shiro countered, studying the designs. “We’ll need a plan.”

* * *

Keith paced back and forth as Hunk and Coran talked.

“I don’t understand. All the diagnostics are coming back clean.”

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the hardware.”

“Maybe-”

“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” Keith snapped. He stomped over to the pod and picked up Merla.

“Keith-” Hunk started, but the Red Paladin ignored him.

He was halfway to the Red Lion’s hanger before he realized where he was going. When he reached the hanger, the lion was lying down and completely dark without even her particle barrier.

He set Merla down on one of the paws then climbed up. He pulled off his helmet and laid down next to her. Gently running his bare hand down her back, he whispered, “Please be okay.”

* * *

“Anything?

“There's just no way in. They'll have us tracked from every direction.”

“There's gotta be something. Keep looking.”

Shiro was hovering behind Lance when Hunk and Coran came onto the bridge.

“Did you figure it out?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

They both frowned and Hunk shook his head.

“Nothing appears wrong with any of the pods,” Coran said. “We tested everything and it all seems to be working fine.”

“So you couldn’t do anything for her?” Pidge asked.

“Unfortunately not.”

“Where’s Keith?” Shiro sighed.

“He grabbed Merla and took off a while ago. We haven’t seen him since,” Hunk said.

“Look at the size of it!” Coran gasped, catching sight of the base.

“I know, we’ve been trying to find a way in,” Shiro explained before turning to the Yellow Paladin. “Hunk, give it a good look over. See if you can see any structural weakness that we could take advantage of.”

“Right.”

“Shiro,” Lance started. “What are we going to do? Allura’s been captured and with the state Merla’s in, will the Red Lion even work? How will we form Voltron?”

“I don’t know. Just focus on what you’re doing for right now. One thing at a time.”

Lance nodded and turned back to his screens and Shiro could see the other two paladins do the same out of the corner of his eye. He walked over to Coran. “You okay?”

“Are any of us?” Coran sighed. He tilted his head down and grabbed the edge of his consol. “And we aren’t even the ones in danger.” He looked up at Shiro. “I want to blame you, you know.”

Shiro nodded. “I know you're worried about Allura. We all are. I'm sorry I let her slip away.”

Coran shook his head. “No, don’t. I know it's not your fault. It's just… I've already lost so much. I can't lose Allura, too.”

“We'll find a way to get her back. If there was just a way to get close to Zarkon's ship unseen…”

Coran looked up at the images on the main screen. His eyes widened as he spotted something and used his panel to bring up a closer look at one of the planets orbiting the base. “Wait a tick. I think I've got a way.”

* * *

“Come on, Merla. There has to be something we could do.”

“Keith?”

The Red Paladin picked his head up to see Lance standing a short ways away. “What?”

“Thought you’d want an update, we think we’ve got a plan to get Allura back.” He came closer, peaking up at Merla with worried eyes. “How’s she doing?”

“Worse,” Keith sighed, looking down at her tail, which had begun crumbling even more. “Did Coran and Hunk fix the pod?”

“No, sorry. They couldn't find anything wrong with it.”

“Quiznak!” Keith dropped his head back down and slammed his fist against the paw.

Lance sighed and reached up to Keith, then paused with his gaze locked onto the white and red energy from her tail fade away like mist. His eyes widened. “What if we’ve been thinking about this wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the cats aren’t actually, you know, cats. They’re magic robot spirits or something. Maybe that’s why the pods aren’t picking her up.”

“The pod worked before.”

“Yeah, but she at least looked and worked like a normal cat then. Now she’s just… whatever that is. A star cat?”

“How does that help? The pod still won’t work!” Keith growled

Lance raised his hands. “I’m just saying, maybe whatever is wrong with her has to do with whatever she is now. So if we can figure out what she is maybe we can help her.”

“That’s… a good point. But how would we find out? She’s obviously not any kind of Earth creature and Coran didn’t say anything about recognizing her species.”

Lance shook his head. “Maybe there’s something in the castle archives? We could ha-“

There was a sharp tug at the back of Lance’s mind.

_Blue?_

Another, harsher tug came.

“Blue! Maybe one of the other cats know something! Come on!”

“Wait!” Keith called, but Lance was already running out of the hanger. The Red Paladin quickly hopped down from his lion’s paw and scooped up Merla before following after as fast as he dared.

Blue opened up as soon as they came into her hanger. “Okay, beautiful. We need help healing Merla,” Lance called as they hurried inside. He staggered slightly as the full weight of Blue's illness hit him, but did his best to push through it. He turned towards the cockpit, but instead a door opened up leading further into the lion. The two paladins shared a look before heading through the door. Blue guided them deeper into the lion than Lance had ever explored until they reached a dead end.

“Now what?” Keith asked.

Lance ran his hand over the wall Blue kept tugging him towards. He opened his mouth to ask as well when his fingers found a slim, almost unnoticeable opening in the wall. His eyes widened as he traced it horizontally across the wall. “Hey, I think there’s something here. Like a secret door or something.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded and started moving around the wall. “Maybe there’s a secret button or a lever or -”

_Shnk!_

Lance jumped and turned to see Keith’s blade sunk into the opening, Merla laying on the ground a short ways behind them. “Or we could do that,” he chuckled, moving over to help Keith pry the door open.

Once the two got it wide enough for them both to fit, Lance held it open while Keith stepped in before following.

The room beyond was small, about half the size of the cockpits, and relatively plain looking.

Unless you looked up.

The boys gasped as they saw the large crystal hanging above them. It was as tall as Lance and twice as wide. It pulsed with sapphire light, but was otherwise completely clear. At its center was a hollow in the shape of a stylized comet curled into itself.

“It’s so pretty,” Lance said, reaching up to run his fingers over the crystal.

Keith tried to do the same, but yanked his hand away as soon as he touched it. “It’s freezing,” he hissed, rubbing at his stinging fingertips. It felt like that time he’d poked the dry ice in chem class. He pulled his glove off to check for frostbite.

Lance frowned and set his hand flat against the crystal. “It’s not that cold.” It was chilly, but in a nice way, like jumping into the pool or ocean on a hot day.

“Maybe not for you.”

“Well, she is my lion,” he hummed, closing his eyes. He could feel the chill sinking into his hand. He could also feel the light pulsing through the crystal. It was almost rhythmic.

_Thum-thum thum-thum thum-thum._

It was almost like…

Lance’s eyes snapped open. “It’s a heartbeat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lesson of the day kiddos: Don't be like me and Keith. When your teacher says not to touch dry ice, flipping listen.
> 
> Also, I can't believe it took me writing this chapter to realize the station looked like the Galra insignia!


	3. Care Killed the Cubs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith are willing to try anything to save Merla.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about the chapter name, found out the original proverb used care (as in worry or sorrow) instead of curiosity.

Lance’s eyes snapped open. “It’s a heartbeat.”

“Heartbeat?”

“The pulsing. Watch the light. See? Bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum.”

Keith watched the crystal for a moment. “I guess, but what does that mean?”

Lance shook his head. “What are you trying to tell us, Blue?”

A ripple of sadness then suddenly the cold was sinking into his hand and flooding through his body, making him gasp.

“Lance?” Keith asked, grabbing his shoulder.

_The two armies, quodynce against aethsin._

_A swirling golden portal._

_Using the Voltron Ceremony on a fuchsia crystal. Being drawn in._

_Organics surrounding four other pulsing crystals as well as their own: a violet spiral galaxy, a green vine, a yellow moon, a red star._

The two boys leapt apart, panting.

“Did you see that too?”

“Yeah, can Blue stop invading my mind?”

“No- I mean, yeah, Blue, a little warning next time, please? But what I mean is did you see that? I was right the crystals are, like, their figurative hearts, but literally! It _is_ them!”

“Wouldn’t a better comparison be their brain?”

“Never mind, it’s not important,” Lance said, turning to the door, which had slowly been closing behind them. He climbed through and said, “Grab Merla, come on!”

“Why? Where are you going now?” Keith said.

Lance waited until the shorter boy had picked up his cat before grabbing his arm and dragging him out of Blue. “Blue once told me that she was, like, a lot older than Altean civilization. I didn’t really understand that until I saw all those Alteans standing around Blue’s crystal. And that scene before.”

Keith frowned at him, before his eyes widened. “The cats, they actually looked like cats, like this, before they were the lions. So if she looks like this again, then…”

“Maybe it’s because something’s wrong with her crystal.”

“Let’s hurry up then,” Keith said and Lance found himself being dragged instead.

When they reached the Red Lion’s hanger, they used their jetpacks to hop up on top of it’s head. Lance opened the access hatch and waited for Keith to drop through then did the same. He turned the flashlight on on his gauntlet and looked around. The Red Lion’s halls were shorter and narrower than the Blue’s, but that made sense since she was so much smaller.

“Which way?”

Lance blinked. “Wh- It’s your lion! Shouldn’t you know the way!”

“Did you know how to get to Blue’s crystal?”

Lance glared at him.

“Perhaps I could be some help?”

The two looked up as Coran’s voice echoed in through the open hatch. Lance jumped up to see Coran standing in front of the Red Lion’s jaw.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

“We’re almost ready to go. You never returned so I came to check on you both.”

“Go?” Keith asked.

“Yeah, sorry Coran. I came down to explain to Keith and we kind of got distracted. We think we’ve found a way to save Merla, but we need to find this crystal inside the Red Lion.”

“Big glowing red one?”

“That’s it. Do you know how to reach it?”

Coran hummed and tapped his finger to his chin. “It’s been a long time. Alfor and the alchemists never needed to check on the crystals. I don’t think we even got around to automating the doors.”

“Yeah, we had to pry open the door in Blue. We didn’t even know there was a door.”

“The crystals are vital to the lions’ functionality. They-”

“Coran, no offense, but it’s kind of time sensitive,” Keith called out and Lance looked down to see most of Merla’s tail was gone and one of her hind legs was starting to dissolve as well.

“Yeah, Coran, maybe we can have the lesson later. Do you remember where the crystal is?”

Coran hummed again and walked over to the control panel. “My memory’s a little rusty, but _I think I can guide you two to it… perhaps,”_ he said, switching over to the comms.

“Alright Coran, lead the way,” Lance said, dropping back down to Keith.

Despite a couple missteps, they reached the door quick enough.

_“The door should be right beneath you now.”_

“We found it, Coran,” Lance said, tracing the opening on the floor. “Thanks.”

_“Not a problem. I need to be heading back up. We’re set to leave in just about two vargas.”_

“Right, I’ll check in as soon as I can.”

_“Best of luck to the both of you. Let us know if there’s anything else we can help with.”_

“Thanks Coran,” Keith said as he set Merla down so he could help Lance.

_“Oh and number four, I saw your glove had been damaged and had the castle make you a new one. It will be waiting for you out here.”_

“Oh,” Keith said, glancing down at his hand. He’d forgotten about that. “Uh, thanks Coran.”

Lance glanced down at Keith’s hands, curious, but refocused as the door clicked open and they were able to pull it up to lean against the wall. Merla’s crystal was smaller than Blue’s only about as tall and wide as Hunk, maybe a touch bigger. In Blue’s vision, the crystal had been completely clear, but pulsing crimson with a hollow inside in the shape of a diamond-like star design.

Now it was a dull, translucent black and completely solid.

“Now what?” Keith asked.

“I don’t know. I was kind of hoping whatever was wrong would be obvious.” Lance reached out for the crystal, only to feel a warning tug from Blue.

He saw Keith reaching out too.

“Wai-”

Keith’s fingers brushed against the crystal and it darkened to a solid pitch black. He let out a scream as black electricity shot up his arm. His entire body spasmed, although his fingers stayed stuck to the crystal.

“Keith!” Lance shouted, grabbing Keith around his waist. As soon as they touched, he felt the lightning flash through him, but he ignored the pain and focused on throwing the two of them back from the crystal.

There was a half second where they were suspended, caught between their own weights and the force on Keith’s hand, then they were falling.

Lance groaned as he sat up. He looked down at Keith to check on the Red Paladin, but couldn’t see anything through the darkness. He tried to turn his flashlight on, but his armor didn’t respond. “Keith is your armor working?”

There was silence for a few moments and Lance almost thought Keith was unconscious before he groaned and shivered. “No.”

“Great.” He looked around, but all he could see were small white lights flickering within the crystal. “You okay?”

“Well, I feel like Lieutenant What’s-his-name had us just run his psycho suicide drill, minus the pleasant muscle burn, I-”

“Pleasant?”

“I’m pretty sure I just got electrocuted and my arm definitely feels like it was, and Merla’s still sick. So no, I’m not okay.”

“I _meant_ do you feel really sick? Any intense pain or excessive bleeding? Are you _not_ feeling something you should? Basically, are there any signs that we should get you to the infirmary right away?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so?”

“That’s… probably a good sign? Man, it would help if we could see.”

“It’s not that dark.”

Lance sent an incredulous look to the boy half-laying on him, which went unnoticed in the darkness.

“Hold on.”

Lance felt Keith start to shift and then a low white light washed over them. He blinked at the sudden light and looked over to see… “Is that a glow stick?”

Keith shrugged, then hissed.

Lance helped him sit up and used the light from the stick to look at Keith’s hand. Thankfully he didn’t see any burns. Though there were odd patches of color across his hand and wrist.

“I kept a bunch in my packs just in case my flashlight died while I was in the caves. So when we got here I stuck a few in the armor for emergency use. I put a couple in the cockpit too.”

Lance snorted and started shifting Keith off his lap. “Okay, boy scout, get off me now.”

Keith slipped off to lean against the wall with a huff that sounded half-yawn and half-growl. “I wasn’t a… _boy_ scout.”

The Blue Paladin was briefly confused by the pause, but pushed it aside once he saw just how exhausted the red one looked. “Geez, what’d that thing do to you?”

Keith shook his head. They turned back to the crystal just in time to see the last of the lights disappear into the darkness before the crystal returned to its translucent state.

“Right, let’s not touch that again, okay?”

Keith kicked him in the shin. “Now what?”

Lance glared at him. “Why do you keep asking me that?”

“This was your idea.”

“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t hurt you to come up with some of your own!”

Keith stared at the the crystal. Lance waited a moment before huffing and looking away from the boy. He stood up and stretched before stepping over to check on Merla.

“Maybe we could shock it?”

“What?” Lance asked, turning back to Keith.

“You said it’s like a heart right? So maybe we should shock it like a doctor does when your heart stops.”

“That’s… You know they don’t actually defibrillate stopped hearts right? That only happens in movies or tv. Didn’t you take first aid?”

“Was planning on taking it later. Look, that doesn’t matter. It’s not an actual heart, so maybe it could work. Like jumpstarting a car.”

Lance shrugged and turned to the crystal. “I guess. It’s better than any idea I’ve got.”

“Which is no idea.”

Lance crossed his arms and growled, “Alright, hotshot, and how do you suppose we jumpstart a giant lion robot?”

“… We need Hunk.”

Lance tried to reach them with his comms, but his armor was still dead. “I’m guessing your armor is still down too?”

Keith tapped at his gauntlet, then his helmet, before nodding.

“Great,” Lance sighed. “I’ll go get him.” He stepped over Keith, but then frowned at the darkness in front of him. “On second thought, can I get one of those glow sticks?”

He looked away from Keith’s smug face and looked around the area. He sent Merla a concerned glance as his eyes passed over her. He refocused on her, feeling like something was off. He watched her for a moment before he realized the energy crumbling off her wasn’t just floating randomly away, but instead drifting off in one direction as it dissipated.

“Hey, Keith, look at Merla,” Lance said as a blue light joined the white.

“What about her?” he asked, tilting to the side slightly.

Lance took the blue glow stick and held it over her. “Look at the lights -- well they’re not really lights I guess since they’re not showing in the dark, but you get my point.”

Keith stared for a few moments before his eyes widened.  “She’s being drawn into the crystal.”

Lance glanced back at the star cat and realized the energy was floating towards the crystal. “Uh, yeah, exactly!”

“It’s like in Blue’s vision. Is that a good thing?”

“Well, she was in there before, right? That probably means she’s supposed to be in there… Right?”

Keith shrugged. “We need to try something though. She keeps getting worse.”

Lance nodded. Merla’s tail was completely gone and her other hind leg had started to fade as well. “It’s your decision. She’s your cat. Either we try this or I go get Hunk using the castle’s comms.”

“That might take too long though. We have to try putting her in the crystal,” Keith sighed.

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

Lance nodded again before glancing between the cat and the slouching boy. “Are you going to be able to pick her up to put her in?”

Keith gave him a defiant look and rose to his feet, but even that left him panting and leaning against the wall.

“Right, I’ll help you with her then.”

“You can’t touch her!” Keith snapped, going pale as he remembered what had happened in the Green Lion.

Lance remembered the same and held up his hands. “I’ll keep my hands on yours. I won’t lay a finger on her.”

Keith bit his lip and nodded.

The two knelt on either side of the cat and Keith carefully lifted her up. Lance waited until she was high enough then slipped his hands under Keith’s to support them. They slowly carried her towards the crystal then Lance helped Keith sit down before hopping over to the other side of the crystal. He sat down facing Keith then leaned over as far as he dared.

As they held Merla over the crystal, a bit of the energy managed to make it into the crystal and it darkened like it had when Keith had touched it. The white lights flickered inside the crystal, but didn’t go out, which Lance took as a good sign. They lowered her down to the crystal, but just as one of her feet brushed it, she spasmed. Lance jumped, then tried to regain his balance. It was for naught though as his knuckles pressed into the crystal and dark lightning raced up his arms.

For a moment there was only pain.

Then there was red and blue and green and yellow and violet and maroon and fuschia, and there was a hanger, five hangers, and a hallway with him sitting in front of him, Keith, Lance, Merla, Chip, Ryou, Blue, Pua, no, wrong, why, stop, they can’t b-

Lance’s side suddenly slammed into a wall.

“Ow!” he groaned, sitting up. “Keith?”

The other boy groaned from where he was lying on the ground on the other side of the crystal, but otherwise didn’t show any signs of consciousness. Lance looked around.

Then realized he could look around.

He slowly, but excitedly crawled over to the crystal’s opening to see it once more looking like it had in Blue’s vision, though now there were two smaller stars frozen in orbit around the larger, a small maroon one and a slightly larger green and fuschia one.

“Keith, it worked!” Lance cheered. A few moments of silence passed and he turned to the Red Paladin. “Keith?”

Lance reached over and shut the door to the red crystal before shuffling over to Keith’s side. “Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling next to him and rolling him over. He pressed his fingers to Keith’s neck and sighed when he felt a pulse and heard his breaths. “Alright, mullet, you just take a nap and I’ll go find the others.” He pushed himself to his feet and staggered away. He made it through the Red Lion, leaning heavily against the walls, until he reached her mouth.

“Lance?”

The Blue Paladin blinked and looked up to see a white and black blur approaching. “Whoa, space Panda!”

“Lance!”

Lance tried to step forwards, only to collapse, panting. The space panda rushed over to his side and he realized the panda was actually Shiro. “Oh, hey Shiro.”

“Lance, what’s wrong?”

“Just a bit tired. We fixed Merla though. She’s all better I think.”

“I can see that. Now it’s you I’m worried about. You look exhausted. Where’s Keith?”

“He’s sleeping, the lazy butt. I’m fine though.”

“Hunk, get down here. Something’s wrong with Lance and Keith. Coran, can you meet us in the infirmary? Thank you. Lance, where’s Keith exactly?”

“Inside,” Lance said, waving towards the lion. “What’s going on? I thought we were going to save Allura?”

“We can’t do anything if two of our paladins are dead on their feet. What happened Lance?”

“We were putting Merla in the crystal and then my fingers touched it and everything turned into Wonderland and the lightning made me tired.”

“Shiro, what’s going on? What’s wrong with him?”

Lance turned and smiled as he saw Hunk run up. “Hey buddy!”

“I don’t know. He’s not making sense. Can you go into the Red Lion and get Keith. I’ll take Lance to the infirmary.”

“Right.”

“I’m fine,” Lance huffed as Shiro picked him up over his shoulder. “What not even a princess carry? Am I not good enough for a princess carry? I bet you’d give Allura a princess carry. Cradle her in your buff arms.”

“Lance, please just stop talking,” Shiro snorted. “Maybe focus on trying to give me a coherent explanation of what happened to you guys.”

“I told you, we were putting Merla in the crystal a-”

“What crystal?”

“The big one all the lions got. It’s like their heart, basically. Keith said it’s their brain really, but whatever. You get what I mean right? It’s them! Like everything that makes them them!”

“Like their soul?”

“Yeah, I think so. They’re inside there, or at least they’re supposed to be. Merla wasn’t and that’s why everyone was sick. So we put her back in there, but my fingers touched the crystal and everything turned to Wonderland.”

“Wonderland?”

“Like Alice. The Mad Hatter. Up is down and words are colors and nothing… Um…”

“Nothing made sense?”

“Right. And now I’m tired. I think I got pulled in like Merla. Keith too. And now we’re tired.”

“So this crystal drained you both of energy?”

“My head hurts.”

Shiro groaned and then Lance was upright. “That would have been good to know earlier.”

Lance shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

“I asked you what was wrong.”

“Oh. Why are Altean lights so weird?”

“They’re alien.”

Lance turned to Shiro with wide eyes. “Oh my god.”

“What happened?”

“Yeah, Lance looks like I did that time I stayed up nearly three days straight binging Merlin.”

“Did you just…”

“I don’t know. Lance said something about a crystal, but he’s not exactly lucid right now.”

Lance put his hands on either side of Shiro’s face and whispered, “Do it again!”

“See.”

“Right, place him in a pod and we’ll see what we’re working with.”

Shiro turned and Lance’s eyes widened as he saw Keith draped over Hunk’s arms. “How come Mullet gets a princess carry?”

“Guys, Keith’s breathing, but his pulse is weak and he’s completely unresponsive.”

“Place him in a pod, quick. Whatever’s happened to them must be affecting him worse.”

Lance felt himself being set down and slid down onto his side. A nap sounded good right now. Especially if Keith was getting one.

“Hey, Lance, Stay awa-”


	4. Interlude: Quince-nya-ra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Pidge's Birthday! Well, not exactly, but close enough!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a calendar set up for the story so I can keep track of ages and Pidge's birthday just happens to fall right between Scales and Alone. I had considered placing this as the first chapter, but I thought it fit better as an interlude.
> 
> This takes place about a week before Just Kitten and Get Out.

“No.”

“Come on, Pidge.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Why not?”

“Hunk don’t you start.”

Keith yawned and looked up to see Hunk and Lance trailing after an annoyed Pidge. Blue spotted him first, perched up on Hunk’s shoulder next to Pua. She let out a chirp and hopped onto Chip -- who was resting atop Rover and let out an unhappy mewl -- then the floor before racing over. She climbed up onto his chest to nuzzle up against Merla. The kitten didn’t even seem to notice, curling up closer to Blue without waking.

The others spotted him and Pidge waved a hand in his direction. “Finally, someone with sense.”

Keith glanced over at Lance and Hunk, the former looking far too eager, and shook his head. “Don’t involve me in this.”

“I bet even Keith would think it’d be fun, Pidge!”

“What did I just say?”

“It’s not happening, Lance. Tell them it’s a stupid idea, Keith.”

Keith draped his arm over his eyes, his other hand coming up to scratch Blue’s chin.

“Just give it a chance, Pidge.”

The couch shifted next to Keith’s head. He lowered his arm to see Hunk sitting down next to him, Lance and Pidge dropping down across from them.

“No, Hunk.”

“If you guys are going to fight, can you take it somewhere else?” Keith huffed, reaching up to stroke Pua’s tail. He smiled as the ragdoll hopped down and curled up next to his shoulder.

“How about _you_ take it somewhere else?”

“There’s no fight because it’s not happening.”

Keith rolled his eyes and reached out for Chip, who cheerfully hopped down from Rover to join the cuddle party.

“He’s like the cat whisperer,” Hunk said softly as Chip nudged Merla and Blue over to curl up under Keith’s chin.

“That’s because cats are the only ones who can stand him.”

“Better than you, who no one can stand,” Pidge snorted.

“What are you even fighting about?” Keith asked, tilting his head to look up at Hunk.

“I thought you didn’t want to get involved, mullet!”

“Oh, so you guys can hear me.”

“You know how Pidge and I were setting up that calendar?” Hunk started to explain.

“No.”

“Oh, uh, well, Pidge and I were trying to set up a calendar. You know, to keep track of how long we’ve been up here.”

“Depressing,” Lance and Keith said together, causing the former to send the latter an appalled look as Pidge laughed

“Right,” Hunk chuckled. “So we managed to correlate the differences between ticks and seconds and using that we were able to figure out exactly how long it’s been since -”

“So you guys made a calendar and now know what day it is?” Keith asked before his brain just started tuning everything out.

“Approximately,” Pidge stepped in. “We don’t know exactly what time it was when we left Earth or how long it was between leaving Earth and waking Allura and Coran, which is when our timing starts so -”

“I get it. So why is the calendar making you guys fight?”

“It was Pidge’s birthday a few days ago, so we want to throw her a party.”

“It’s her fifteenth birthday! That’s a special day! We should have a big party.”

“For the last time, I’m not Latina. I don’t need a quinceañera.”

“That’s not what - Nevermind. I’m not saying we have a big party like that, but we should still have a party. You deserve a party with dancing and presents and puffy dresses.”

Pidge snorted. “You can wear a puffy dress.”

“You think I won’t? I totally will, and I’ll rock it! Hunk too, right Hunk?”

The Yellow Paladin frowned. “I guess, if Pidge wants me too. I don’t know if I have the figure for it.”

“Of course you do!”

“Well I’m not wearing a dress.”

“What’s wrong, Mullet? Would wearing a dress hurt your fragile masculinity?”

“Yes.”

Lance blinked at the Red Paladin’s annoyed tone and Pidge elbowed him just beneath the ribs. “Shut up before you sound like a jerk. No one’s wearing a dress because I’m not having a party.”

“But you have to celebrate! It’s your birthday! Right Hunk, Keith?”

Keith saw Hunk nod, but he just gave Lance a blank look. “You’re asking me? I spent my fifteenth birthday in a shack with just Ryou and Merla for company, doing the same thing I did every day. The closest thing to celebrating that happened was Merla bringing me a _special lizard._ ”

“See Keith gets -- Wait, you’re fifteen?” Pidge stared at him and Hunk followed suit, while Lance put his hands over his mouth.

“Holy cheese, Keith’s a baby!”

Pidge kicked him and Keith glared at him. “I’m a year younger than you.”

“I turn seventeen in July.”

“And I turn sixteen in October.”

“What are they fighting about now?”

The group looked up to see Shiro and Ryou standing in the doorway, giving the two boys unimpressed looks.

“Hunk, Lance, and Pidge are the ones fighting,” Keith said at the same time Pidge said, “Lance called Keith a baby because he’s fifteen.”

“Technically all of you are underage,” Shiro pointed out. “So you’re all children.”

“You’re one to talk,” Keith snorted.

“What do you mean?” Hunk asked.

“Nothing,” Shiro said quickly. “So what were you three arguing about?”

“Pidge won’t let us throw her a birthday party,” Hunk explained as Pidge and Lance glanced back and forth between Keith and Shiro suspiciously.

“Birthday party? It’s your birthday?”

“It was. A few days ago. But like I told these idiots, I don’t want a party.”

“Well, it is your choice -”

“Thank you!”

“But I think you should. It would be good for you, for all of us. We need something to celebrate.”

Pidge surged to her feet and marched out of the room, Rover following behind. “Well you all can celebrate without me.”

“What’s up with her?” Lance huffed.

Keith watched her go before sliding the cats off him and sitting up. “If that’s settled, I’m going to go train.”

“If you want some company, I can join you after I check in with Coran.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Pidge glared at the ceiling, the headphones she had stolen back from Lance secured around her ears and blasting a techno piece that may as well been white noise for how much she was paying attention. On top of her stomach, her hands folded and unfolded a glossy picture.

The door to her room opened, blinding her with white-blue light.

She shot the doorway a glare, but relaxed when she caught a brief glance of Chip before the door sealed the room into darkness once more. “Oh, hey girl. I thought you were Shiro. I’m surprised he hasn’t come to read me the riot act already.”

Chip gave a muffled call and jumped up next to her. She pushed her muzzle into Pidge’s hand, depositing something before walking over to curl up on Pidge’s pillow.

Curious, Pidge sat up with a, “Lights, ten percent.”

The low light revealed Chip’s delivery to be a folded picture with a message scrawled across the back. Unfolding it, she read the message.

**I get it**

**Found this under my bed when I** ~~**got kicked**~~

**was leaving the Garrison**

**Figured you could give it back to him**

She turned it over and froze.

It was from when she was five. She still had short hair, but she was in a bright pink tutu. Her father had her in his lap while her mother was sitting next to them, her head on Pidge’s dad’s shoulder. Matt was standing behind them all, beaming.

The picture had been her father’s. He had kept it in his wallet for a year before they all had sat down for another family picture and he’d swapped it out. Matt had taken it then. He’d been starting the Garrison and wanted to bring it to show off his “Squishy baby sister.” It was always falling out, though. He went through at least one copy a year. Pidge had tried convincing him to switch to more recent pictures every time they sat for pictures since she had turned eight, but he refused. She was half convinced he was doing it purely to annoy her at this point.

Pidge smiled, even as tears began trailing down her cheeks.

* * *

“Keith!”

The Red Paladin looked up from his dinner to see Pidge marching up towards him. Before he could say anything, she socked him in the arm. He blinked and rubbed it.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, uh, no problem.”

She nodded, then spun on her foot and headed into the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Lance asked.

“Pidge didn’t want a birthday.”

“Yeah, and?”

Keith shrugged. “I get it.”

Lance gave him a bemused stare until Hunk dropped into the seat across from them.

“Hey guys, so I was thinking, maybe we should add in all our birthdays to the calendar,” Hunk said around a mouthful of goo. He swallowed, then brought up the calendar on his tablet. “I got Pidge’s, Lance’s, and mine already and apparently Altean’s mark their age using the, uh, stellar misalignment flare cycle something or other that really doesn’t translate well into their system of measuring time, let alone ours, so I was thinking we’d just pick out days for them and celebrate then, and Keith, you said yours was in October, right?”

Keith blinked, then nodded slowly, mind still trying to catch up with the long explanation. “I, yeah, the twenty-third. Oh, and Matt’s is the twelfth of December.”

“Great, I’ll add them both!” Hunk cheered, tapping at the tablet.

“How do you know Pidge’s brother’s birthday?” Lance asked.

“He was my Alumni Mentor back at the garrison.”

“Cool, so we just need Shiro’s then!”

“I bet Keith knows that too,” Lance scoffed.

“I do.”

Lance glared at him and Hunk looked up, waiting, but the Red Paladin just went back to his food.

“Well?” Lance huffed after a minute of silence passed. “What’s his birthday?”

“I’m under contract not to say.”

“You… what?” Hunk frowned and shared a look with Lance.

“Shiro made me sign a contract years ago. I’m not allowed to tell anyone when his birthday is.”

“Why would he make you do that?”

“I’m under contract not to say.”

“You can’t even tell us why you can’t tell us?” Lance said, leaning into Keith’s face.

“Nope,” Keith responded, pushing him away.

“You know, contracts signed by minors aren’t legally binding,” Hunk pointed out.

“It’s a personal contract, not a legal one.”

“I don’t buy it! I bet you Mullet doesn’t actually know and he’s just saying that to try and trick us!”

“Ask Shiro.”

“I will!” Lance pushed away from the table and over to the castle’s comms. “SHIRO, COME TO THE DINING ROOM!”

Both Keith and Hunk flinched as Lance’s shouting echoed through the intercoms.

“You don’t need to shout, Lance,” Hunk sighed.

A few moments later, Shiro arrived to say the same. “The intercoms are loud enough, Lance.”

“Shiro, does Keith really know your birthday?”

The Black Paladin glanced at Keith and nodded, “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t he?”

“He said something about a contract and Lance didn’t believe him,” Hunk explained.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that!”

Keith froze, then turned to his uncle with a smirk. “Does that mean I can tell them?”

Shiro sent the boy a glare. “Why did you guys want to know my birthday?”

“Oh, I wanted to put everyone’s birthdays on the calendar. So we’ll know when someone’s big day is coming up.”

Shiro nodded and smiled. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. My birthday’s February twenty-eighth.”

Keith twitched.

“Oh, cool.”

Lance frowned. “Why wouldn’t Mullet be able to tell us that?”

Shiro shrugged. “I was born on a leap year so people like to make jokes about how if I’d been born a day later…” He shrugged again.

Keith twitched again.

“That sucks, it’s not like you’re an actual leap year baby,” Lance tisked, returning to the table.

Hunk nudged him. “That’s not a good reason to make fun of a person either.”

“I’m not saying make fun of them, but harmless jokes are still on the table.”

Keith grabbed his half empty plate and headed into the kitchen, Shiro just behind him.

As soon as the door shut, he snickered, “You’re such a liar.”

“Don’t you dare tell them.”

“Come on, Shiro, I’m not going to let them tease a six-year-old.”

Shiro shoved his shoulder so hard his plate went flying.


	5. Lost and Fur-gotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron still needs to save Allura, but are they up for it?

Lance groaned, his eyes fluttering open. He looked around and saw he was lying in an unfamiliar room in the castle. He turned his head and saw Keith lying on a cot nearby, a thin sheet pulled up to his chin.

With a yawn, he sat up, disrupting his own blanket. He rubbed at his eyes, then looked down at his wrist. A white device was wrapped around it, going halfway up his forearm and featuring a screen that read off something in Altean writing. He was also wearing the suit he’d worn when he’d been in the cryo-pod.

<Lance!>

Lance smiled and turned to the tiger that appeared at his side. “Hey, buddy. How’re you doing?”

<We’re fine. As soon as our connection to Merla was reestablished and Voltron stabilized we were right as rain. It’s you three we were worried about.>

“What happened? The last thing I remember was lowering Merla into the crystal. That was the right thing to do, right? How is she?”

<She’s weak -- it’s going to take her a bit to regain enough strength just to fully communicate, let alone separate from her lion like this -- but she’ll be okay. You did the right thing as far as we can tell. We’ve never heard of something like this happening. It shouldn’t have been possible. When we… became Voltron, it was supposed to be irreversible. Projecting ourselves away is one thing, but completely separating from the crystal like Merla did… Her body couldn’t even support her anymore. It wasn’t meant to. We’re all grateful to both you and Keith. We don’t even know if we would have survived the disconnect much longer, and Merla definitely wouldn’t have.

<But that’s not important right now.>

“Sounds important.”

<What’s important is how you’re feeling.>

“I’m a little drowsy and I’ve got a bit of a headache, but otherwise I feel okay.”

<That’s good. Merla and I have been trying to help you both stabilize, but we were worried getting involved too much might just have the opposite effect.>

“What do you mean? What happened?”

<You b->

The door to the room swished open and the two turned to see Coran walking in. He was looking down at a tablet when he entered and didn’t notice them until he bumped into Blue. “Oh, hello, Blue,” he said, looking up. “Did you come to check o- Oh, Lance my boy, you’re up!”

“Hey Coran.”

“How long have you been up?” the Altean set the tablet down next to Lance’s knee and checked the device on Lance’s arm.

“Only a few minutes.”

Coran hummed and entered something into the tablet. “Well, your vitals have improved greatly.”

“Vitals? Was I sick?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Nothing past Keith and I trying to put Merla in that red crystal. Did something happen?”

“We’re not exactly sure. Shiro came to check on you both and found you stumbling out of the Red Lion. You were pretty out of it when he got you here too. Shiro said something about the crystal draining you and you ending up in… wonder-earth?”

“Wonderland?”

“Yes, that’s it. You were showing signs of exhaustion along with the disorientation.”

“Why weren’t we put in pods?”

“That had been the plan. Fortunately I decided to run a scan on you both as the others were putting you in the cryo-suits. It turned out that it wasn’t normal exhaustion, but psae-misalignment, which would only have been exacerbated by the pods.”

“What’s say-misalignment?”

“Psae. It’s what happens when those who are able to psae walk do not properly reconnect their psae to their bodies afterwards. Psae walking is… Oh what was that term Pidge used? Astral projection I believe.”

“Wait, you’re saying Keith and I astral projected?”

“In a sense, yet not quite. From what I understand given your explanation, the crystal tried to draw out your psae, as well as Keith’s, but didn’t, which left you both with psae-misalignment. Thankfully I caught it so we could start the stabilization before the lack of quintessence within your bodies killed you.”

“Wait, killed us? You mean we were _dying?_ ”

“Well, your bodies were at least. Your psae’s were disconnected enough that they probably would have lived on without you. Though Pidge did show scepticism that your psae would have been able to live on long without your bodies to support them so…”

Lance turned to Blue with wide eyes.

“No need to worry though. As I said, we caught it in time. You two should be as healthy as Syrme worms soon enough!” Coran said, walking over to Keith’s side to check his own wrist monitor.

“Is that a good thing?” Lance whispered to Blue.

<Probably?>

“How long have we been out?” Lance asked.

“Oh, about a varga and a half.”

“A var- What about Allura? The plan!” Lance said, pushing the blanket off himself and jumping to his feet. Blue caught him as his legs gave out beneath him. Coran came over to help him.

“The others are getting ready, but with you two out there is only so much we could do.”

“I’ll get to my lion.”

“Lance, you just woke up and you’re leaning on Blue just to stay up.”

“I’ll be sitting in Blue, I’ll be fine.”

“Your psae isn’t completely realigned. Forming Voltron could cause a set-”

“Coran, we need to rescue Allura and for that, we need Voltron. I _have_ to do this.”

“Could you two keep it down over there?” a groggy voice groaned and the three turned to see Keith rolling over on his cot.

“Wake up, mullet. We need to go save Allura.”

“Lance.”

“Allura?” Keith slowly sat up and turned to look at them. “What about Allura?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Coran asked as he helped Lance sit down.

“Um… we were on a mission. Shiro, Allura, and Ryou were infiltrating a ship and Merla and I went to investigate some creepy dude. I think we ended up in a fight?”

“You tried to take some of the quintessence they were working on.”

“Right. And the guy attacked us and…” Keith’s face screwed up as he turned to let his legs hang off the cot. “That’s it. What happened?”

“Merla got hurt in the fight, but we fixed her. Now we need to go save Allura.”

“You two need rest,” Coran huffed as he came to check Keith’s band.

“Back up. What happened to Allura? And what happened to Merla?”

“I’ll explain on the way,” Lance said, pushing himself to his feet. He managed to keep himself up and took that as a good sign. “Let’s go!”

* * *

“We’re going to have to hit hard and fast. We won’t have Voltron so Hunk-”

“Yes you will!”

Shiro sun around to see Lance limping in. Blue, Coran, and Keith followed behind him with Blue giving her paladin worried eyes while Coran had Keith’s arm over his shoulders. “Lance, Keith, you’re up! Coran said you wouldn’t be up and about for another few hours a least.”

“They shouldn’t be,” Coran huffed, helping Keith into his chair. “But they refused to listen when I told them to stay laying down.”

“ _Lance_ refused to listen. He dragged me out of bed before Coran could even get a word out.” Keith pointed out.

“We need to help Allura.” Lance ignored Keith as he walked up to Shiro’s side. “Is the plan still the same?”

“Lance, maybe you should sit down,” Hunk suggested as Lance swayed slightly.

“I’m fine.”

“You nearly died, idiot. Sit down,” Pidge snapped.

“We don’t have time to waste. We’re well enough for a fight.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Keith muttered. When Lance glared at him he added, “You stumbled the entire way here and I needed Coran’s help just to walk. And who knows what condition Merla’s in after what you said happened.”

“So what, you think we should not even try to save Allura?”

“We wouldn’t be helping her by delivering the universe's only hope to the universe's biggest enemy. Maybe we should hold off on this mission for a bit.”

“Keith, that's cold, even for you. What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you? Would you?”

“I'm not saying I like the idea. I'm just thinking like a paladin.”

“No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!”

“We need rest and Merla needs to recover.”

“Okay, okay! This isn't helping. We can't just sit here and bicker like this.”

“Hunk’s right,” Shiro said, setting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Keith, I understand your worries, but we have to help Allura. If you and Lance are too weak -”

“I’m helping,” Lance cut in.

“You both are still too unbalanced,” Coran said, but he was ignored.

“I’ll help if Merla’s up for it. I just think it’s a bad idea.”

“Your opinion is noted -”

“And ignored,” Lance interrupted Shiro again.

The Black Paladin sent him a look. “Pidge, run diagnostics on the Red Lion while I catch these two up.”

* * *

“Keith, Lance, you two doing okay? How’s Merla?”

“Fine.”

“We’re good.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Both paladins could feel themselves being drawn back into Voltron’s bond every second the lions were fused. They had to make a conscious effort to stay connected enough to stay fused while not being drawn in completely. It was getting easier with time though as the bond lent them the strength to fight the pull and -- they assumed -- their psae’s slowly realigned. The bond was helping Merla as well, though she hadn’t yet regained the strength to speak to Keith.

“Good, because there's Zarkon's ship!”

From there, everything fell to pieces, literally. Something foreign invaded Voltron’s bond and Keith and Lance felt the invasion like a physical attack. Their entire focus went to not being drawn into the bond and torn to shreds by the invasion. They could feel Merla and Blue at their sides, trying to protect and help them.

Finally a garbled message they could tell wasn’t intended for them floated through the bond before Ryou forced them all away and Voltron fell apart.

* * *

Merla was angry and Keith was angry and neither were quite sure whose anger was whose.

This was Reject, who had taken advantage of her past paladin’s trust and flew them into the Lifelight. Who had killed her former paladin. Who had caused her to be separated from her love and pride for a time that while short compared to their lifetimes, was still far too long. Whose actions led to her cub being separated from his brother-uncle-best friend for far too long.

This was Zarkon, who had taken Shiro from him. Who had slaughtered and enslaved entire planets. Who had wiped out Allura and Coran’s home and species and family. Who had stolen Pidge’s family from her. Who had kept Merla’s lion prisoner.

This was the one who had caused so much pain.

Their anger flared, a lightning storm and wildfire fusing into an inferno that burned into the physical plane in the form of a rail gun. They didn’t have the energy to spare, but they spared it anyways.

* * *

Ryou curled up deep inside himself. Anger filled him. Anger at Zarkon and his demented wife for daring to overwhelm him and try to turn him against Voltron. Anger at himself for letting them. He’d disengaged Voltron. He’d tossed away his paladin.

He knew that he really hadn’t had a choice. Zarkon’s intrusion had been hurting all of them, especially their more fragile members, and there was no telling what Zarkon would have done to Shiro through the bond if he hadn’t put some distance between them.

But he had still given the betrayer exactly what he had wanted and now Merla and Keith, who were still so weak from the makeshift Voltron Ceremony, were fighting for their lives trying to protect him.

He felt Shiro’s presence near and quickly opened for him. He pushed as much shame and guilt along their bond as he could, only to receive concern, relief, and affection in return.

“It’s okay. I know he was doing something to you. Let’s just get out of here.”

Ryou readily agreed.

* * *

Keith groaned as he rose from the abyss of unconsciousness. He coughed as his eyes flickered open. “What happened?”

_Worry. Anger. Exhaustion. Pain._

He looked around to see that he was in the Red Lion’s cockpit. The lights were on, as was the main screen, but everything else was off. Through the main screen, everything was grey. Pale grey crag and mountains. Dusty grey clouds floating across a slate grey sky.

“What’s going on?” The last thing he remembered was fighting Zarkon before… He’d been in a fight with Zarkon and Zarkon had knocked them down into… something? That’s it. He must have been knocked out, but what happened after? Had they been defeated? It didn’t seem like they had been captured since they weren’t currently sitting inside a Galra ship.

He reached out for the Red Lion’s controls and tried them as he asked, “You okay, Merla?”

_Exhaustion. Pain. Concern. Unease. Exhaustion._

“Yeah, I get it. We'll fix you up. We’ve had a tough day.” Days? How long has it been? He rose to his feet and slowly made his way through the cockpit. “Rest up for now. I’m going to look outside.”

_Concern._

He patted the wall he was leaning against. “I’m alright. We need to figure out what’s going on.”

Unfortunately climbing out of the access hatch on top of the Red Lion’s head didn’t provide any clues on where they were. They were inside a crater, so it was obvious they had crashed, but there were no other signs of where they were or how they’d gotten there.

Sighing, he sat down and closed his eyes. _Merla, what’s going on?_

_Unease. Concern._

_Rain._

Keith’s eye shot open. “Shiro? Shiro!”

He stood up and scanned the area.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

There.

He jet packed off the Red Lion and started towards the signal coming from the Black Lion. “Shiro?”

_Concern. Annoyance. Unease. Annoyance._

“I’ll be back, Merla. I need to find Shiro.”

_Annoyance. Acceptance. Annoyance. Exhaustion._

“Rest up. Shiro, come in!”

* * *

Ryou colored relief as he felt Merla’s cub grow closer. He let himself form inside his cockpit and nuzzled up to Shiro’s arm. A few moments passed before his paladin groaned.

<Shiro?>

Shiro opened his eyes and turned to him. He smiled and scratched his head. “Hey buddy.”

<How do you feel?> Ryou sniffed at the wound on Shiro’s side and growled.

“Yeah, she did a number on me. Come on, we need to find Keith.”

<You need to stay still. Keith’s coming.>

He watched Shiro try to access his systems, to no avail.

“Guess that crash did a number on you, huh?”

<Just as it did you. Rest.>

“Guess we’ll have to do it the hard way.”

<And they say Merla’s cub is the stubborn one.> He tried to keep the paladin seated, but didn’t want to press too hard and risk hurting him. In the end, he ended up following at Shiro’s side as the paladin climbed out of the lion.

“Keith, are you there? Keith?” Shiro sighed as he only got static in return. “I've got to get to higher ground.”

Ryou placed himself in front of Shiro and glared at him. <Go. Rest.>

“Ryou, knock it off. Keith and Merla were both bad off even before the mission. There’s no telling what condition they're in now after their fight with Zarkon and that crash. We need to find them.”

<Keith is on his way and Merla is resting, as you should be,> Ryou grumbled and shoved a wave of concern and exasperation at the young man.

“I know, but we need to check on Keith first.”

He huffed and pressed up to Shiro’s uninjured side so he could lean against him. They made their way along a narrow path that led up along the walls of the gorge Ryou had crashed in until Keith’s voice finally cut through the static.

_"Shiro, are you there? Answer me!”_

“Keith. I'm here. Keith,” Shiro replied, finally letting Ryou lower him to the ground.

_“Shiro, it's Keith.”_

“Keith, Keith, I'm here. I'm okay.”

_“Shiro, you made it.”_

“It takes more than a glowing alien wound, a fall from the upper atmosphere, and crashing into a hard pan surface, at what I'm guessing is about 25 meters per second squared, to get rid of me. How are you?”

_“A little unsteady still, but not anywhere as bad as when Lance and I first woke up. Merla’s down though. Pidge and Hunk are going to need to take a look at her when we get back.”_ There was a moment’s pause, then, _“Wait, what wound?”_

“It's nothing.”

Ryou gave a loud growl.

Either Keith heard it or he was equally as unconvinced, because he responded with, _“Hang on, I'm coming.”_

There was a clicking growl and the two turned to see a pack of creatures climbing across Ryou’s metallic form.

“On second thought, you'd better hurry."

Ryou helped Shiro to his feet and they started to move away.

_“Shiro, what happened?”_

“There's several creatures.”

Ryou’s ear flicked and he turned to see another of the creatures climbing up towards them. He placed himself between the creature and Shiro with a low growl and felt Shiro freeze next to him.

The creature responded with a snarl of it’s own, which gathered the attention of the others. He swiped at the creature to get it to back off some then turned to look at the others.

“Ryou,” Shiro called. Once he got the liger’s attention, he slid down from the path back to the bottom of the gorge. Ryou followed close behind, shifting into his house cat form when he spotted the small cave Shiro was headed for.

Both scrambled inside just before the creatures reached them. Instead they slammed into the cliff wall, causing the entrance to cave-in.


End file.
